Chapter 6 - Narrative and Anti-Narrative: The Case of the Two Stevens: The Work of Steven Spielberg and Steven Soderbergh

Abstract

In this chapter, we look at the work of two important film storytellers, Steven Spielberg and Steven Soderbergh. They represent two extreme impulses. Spielberg's impulse is classic linear storytelling, clearly plot-driven, and very effective (so effective, in fact, that it underpins the most commercially successful career in film history). Soderbergh's impulse is ambiguous, experimental, and quirky. We call it anti-narrative. The impulse of Steven Soderbergh is, above all, a strategy to opt for creative rather than overtly commercial narrative solutions. That is not to say that Steven Spielberg has not experimented or sought creative solutions in his own work. Nor is it to say that Steven Soderbergh has not sought out linear, commercially viable narratives in his career. However, for the most part, Steven Spielberg has embraced one type of narrative and Steven Soderbergh has embraced the opposite. For this reason, an exploration of their work will highlight these two extreme options available to the filmic storyteller , a term that illuminates the role of filmmakers who either write or have a powerful influence on the scripts before production.